David Jolly, a Trump critic and former GOP congressman, to run for Florida Governor as a Democrat
The Hindu
Former Republican congressman David Jolly announces bid for Florida governor as a Democrat, aiming to unite voters in 2026.
A former Republican congressman and vocal critic of Donald Trump says he wants to become governor in the President's adopted home state of Florida, and that he's running as a Democrat.
David Jolly formally announced his bid on Thursday (June 5, 2025), becoming the latest party convert hoping to wrest back control of what had been the country's premier swing state that in recent years has made a hard shift to the right. Under state law, term-limited Republican Governor Ron DeSantis cannot run for re-election in 2026.
Even as Florida serves as a place for the Trump administration to poach staff and test policies, Mr. Jolly says he's confident that issues such as affordability, funding public schools, and strengthening campaign finance and ethics laws will resonate with all voters in 2026. He predicts elections next year will herald nationwide change.
"I actually think Republicans in Tallahassee have gone too far in dividing us. I think we should get politicians out of the classrooms, out of the doctor's offices," Mr. Jolly said.
"I think enough people in Florida, even some Republicans, now understand that. That the culture wars have gone too far," he said.
Mr. Jolly was first elected to his Tampa Bay-area congressional seat during a 2014 special election, and was re-elected for one full term. The attorney and former lobbyist underwent a political evolution that spurred him to leave the Republican Party in 2018 to become an independent and then a registered Democrat. And he has built a national profile for himself as an anti-Trump political commentator on MSNBC.
Mr. Jolly said he has considered himself "part of the Democratic coalition" for five or so years, and believes in what he sees as the party's "fundamental values" — that government can help people, that the economy should be "fair" to all, and that immigrants should be celebrated.
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